How to add iGoogle Gadget to Gmail

1. What is iGoogle Gadget?

iGoogle is essentially your custom Google page where you can put stuffs such as photos, news, weather etc at one place. iGoogle is accessible through www.google.com/ig but now you can now put it on your GMail account as well.

So what’s the benefits you get by placing iGoogle Gadgets on your Gmail account? Basically the addition of iGoogle will add functionality as well as entertainment to your Gmail. From your Gmail you can play games such as Mario Bros classic or having your own virtual pet. While most of us use Gmail for business purposes, iGoogle gadget can increase productivity to your daily work with the existence of productivity tools such as calendar and Google Translator.

What best about iGoogle Gadget is it works exactly the same as any other Google products; it never stops to evolve. So be sure to visit the gadgets page to check the newly added stuffs.

2. How to activate iGoogle Gadgets on Gmail?

2.1. Open your Gmail in your browser, go to the top right corner of the page. Click on setting icon and choose “Mail Settings”.

Step 1: Setup iGoogle Gadget on Gmail

2.2. Click on the lab tab at the top of the page.

Step 2: Lab tab

2.3. Find “Add Any Gadgets by URL” and enable it. Save it and you will be taken back to your Inbox.

Step 3: Add any gadget by URL

2.4. By now, iGoogle gadget feature is activated on your account. If you follow step 2.1 above, you will notice the addition of Gadget tab, next to Lab label. Click on the gadget tab.

3. How to add iGoogle Gadgets to Gmail?

3.1. Go to iGoogle page. Click “Add Gadget” button on the left sidebar.

Add Gadget page

3.2. The addition of iGoogle gadget is actually as easy as clicking the “Add It Now” button but because it is still in beta phase, the addition may not work as it is supposed to be.

Choosing gadget from the gadget list

3.3. To get around this problem, you need to click on the gadget’s image of your choice. You will then be brought to a new page where you should notice “Share this gadget” link.

Share this Gadget

3.4 By clicking on “Share this gadget” link, a prompt will popup. Click on the “Or copy and paste a link to this gadget” link and the URL for the gadget will be available right below the link.

URL for specific gadget

From the link, locate the “moduleurl=” phrase. You need to copy everything after “moduleurl=” until “.xml”. Basically it’s the URL of the gadget that we look for.

3.5 With the URL already copied, you just follow step 2.4 and paste the URL into the box and add it.